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In the Kingdom of Haagen-Dazs, Xiong Jun led a group of soul beasts, running east and west, disrupting the entire kingdom's peace.
Goron, Chen Xin, and Walter chased after it, thoroughly disgusted. The entire Kingdom of Haagen-Dazs was almost destroyed, the people were in a state of panic, and many wealthy merchants or nobles with the means fled the kingdom, leaving only the lowest-level commoners.
A four-person reconnaissance team composed of members of the Min Zhi Clan was flying in the air. In recent days, they had once again lost track of Xiong Jun and the army of soul beasts.
"Captain, there's a small village ahead." The speaker was a female soul master with black hair tied in a ponytail. She was tall and slender, and had the best eyesight in the team.
"Bai Yue, you and Bai Zhi stay here and circle in the air. Don't land under any circumstances. Bai Xi, you and I will go take a look," said Bai Feng, the youth-like captain.
In the past, when they saw intact villages, they would either stop to rest or detour, because an intact village meant that soul beasts had not passed in that direction.
But recently, they had discovered that the soul beasts had become more cunning. They no longer slaughtered all humans in their path, but instead carefully avoided them until they encountered a large city, which they would then attack.
The last time they lost track of Xiong Jun, it was because they discovered that none of the villages in the east had been destroyed, so they subconsciously gave up searching in that direction, only to receive news a few days later that a city in the east had been captured by soul beasts.
Marshal Goron then realized that Xiong Jun was not as simple-minded as it appeared on the surface, but was also a seasoned hunter.
Sometimes, soul beasts would also lurk underground or in villages, waiting for soul masters to pass by and ambush them.
Many reconnaissance teams had suffered injuries or deaths as a result, so Bai Feng was particularly cautious.
Then, Bai Feng, still a little uneasy, instructed, "If you notice anything wrong, leave immediately. Don't even think about saving anyone."
"Okay, I understand." Bai Yue nodded emphatically, her beautiful face full of seriousness. "Captain, be careful."
Bai Feng and Bai Xi circled over the village for a while and found no one. They exchanged glances, retracted their wings, and landed on an open space on the east side of the village, then cautiously walked forward.
The door of the nearest house creaked open, and a hunched old man walked out. Wrinkles formed ravines on his face, and sparse age spots were unevenly distributed on his forehead and cheeks.
He wore a hint of flattery on his face and cautiously asked, "Two adults, may I ask what you are here for?"
"Have you seen any traces of soul beasts?" Bai Feng asked indifferently.
"Was it a group of large spiders? They went south. The old man was so scared at the time," the hunched old man said, a look of fear in his eyes.
"About how many were there?" Bai Xi frowned, his tone somewhat cold.
"I don't know, I don't know. I was so scared when I saw those monsters that I quickly hid. How could I have the courage to count them?" The hunched old man shook his head repeatedly.
"What a waste." Bai Xi muttered softly. Although his voice was small, he didn't try to hide it, and the old man could hear it clearly.
"I'm sorry, two adults, I'm sorry. It's the old man who is useless." The hunched old man bowed and apologized in fear and trepidation.
"Let's go, let's go take a look to the south," Bai Feng said softly.
After the two left, the other villagers gradually came out of their homes after a while.
"Village chief, are you alright?"
"It's okay, it's okay." The hunched old man shook his head. "These two soul master adults are quite easy to talk to. Alright, alright, everyone, go back."
He waved his hand to dismiss the villagers.
After a while, the old village chief, leaning on his crutch, slowly came to the small woods behind the village.
A spider as large as a millstone emerged from the grass. It shook off the dirt on its body, and its eight compound eyes stared intently at the old man in front of it.
The old village chief was so frightened that he trembled and said, "Th... This soul beast master, please tell that adult that I have something to report to him."
A large bear, black all over with a few white stripes on its chest, walked out, first slapped the large spider, then looked at the old man, signaling him to follow.
Continuing forward for a distance, they came to a place occupied by large centipedes, large snakes, large spiders, and several different colored bear-type soul beasts. In the very center, there was a burly man with dark golden skin and a person shrouded in a black robe.
"Two adults, soul masters came to the village to scout just now, and I have already told them that you went to the south," the old village chief said, suppressing the fear in his heart.
"Mm." The black-robed man said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Well done."
Saying that, he looked at Xiong Jun beside him.
Xiong Jun waved his hand, and several beast corpses appeared on the ground: "Here you go."
"Thank you, adults, thank you, adults." The old village chief thanked him non-stop, then he looked at the beast corpses and frowned.
"You, help him send them back to the village." The black-robed man said to the several bear-type soul beasts of different colors.
The bear-type soul beasts looked at Xiong Jun.
Xiong Jun nodded: "Listen to him."
They stood up one by one, shaking their heads, each dragging a corpse, and followed behind the old village chief.
Xiong Jun looked at the black-robed man and asked, "Master, what should we do next?"
The black-robed man responded in a slightly hoarse voice:
"We are now not far from the capital of the Haagen-Dazs Kingdom, Ice Crystal City. Bypass the cities along the way and go straight for Ice Crystal City.
"Most of the nobles in the towns and cities in other places have run away, but the royal capital has the largest number of soul masters gathered, and it is far from the front line. Under the seemingly safe circumstances, the royal family will not leave easily.
"You wreak havoc in the areas where those nobles and soul masters have fled, and no matter how many civilians you kill, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family will not be under too much pressure.
"Killing those nobles will have a much better effect. Only by killing them and making them feel fear, and making the nobles feel pain, will you give the Heaven Dou Imperial Family enough pressure to make them yield and compromise."
Xiong Jun scratched his head, not understanding much of this, and asked in a muffled voice, "I still don't quite understand, why would Master be willing to help us?"
The black-robed man replied, "I should have said it long ago, in my opinion, soul beasts like you are no different from humans. I once had a student named Xiao Wu, who was a 100,000-year-old transformed soul beast…
"She would cry, laugh, and play with other students. She was so innocent… What's the difference between such a soul beast and a human?
"And some people, on the contrary, only know how to oppress and exploit the people, which is simply worse than beasts. Compared to her, those nobles are so ugly that they are simply unbearable to look at. Not one of them is a good thing."
"Xiao Wu? That rabbit?" Xiong Jun's face showed a look of realization.
"Of course, these are secondary reasons… Your target is Amon, and Duke Amon is my mortal enemy!"
The black-robed man raised his head, revealing the face under the black robe. It was Yu Xiaogang. In his eyes, there was an inextinguishable fire of hatred.
After a moment of pause, the black-robed man continued, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. In addition, you must promise me that after breaking through Ice Crystal City, you must not harm ordinary people."
Xiong Jun nodded solemnly and said, "I will try my best to restrain the soul beasts under my command, but I cannot guarantee that there will be no accidental injuries."
...
The old village chief led the beast corpses back to the village. The bears that helped carry the corpses did not enter the village, but threw the beast corpses at the entrance of the village and left.
"Come out, come out, everyone come out, time to share the meat." The old village chief shouted happily.
The villagers gathered one by one with joy on their faces.
Someone asked hesitantly, "Village chief, isn't this not very good? After all, those are soul beasts."
The old village chief's face darkened: "What's not good? Do you still want to go back to the past, working hard to farm every day, only to have 70% of the grain taken away by those Sanguine, and barely surviving on the little bit left?
"Isn't it good now? Because there are soul beast masters, no one comes to collect taxes anymore… If you have the ability, put down the meat you've been given before you say that."
Hearing this, the person immediately fell silent.
The old village chief tapped the ground with his crutch and said coldly, "Listen to me, if I find anyone daring to say bad things about the soul beast masters again, don't even think about getting any good things in the future."
...
Ice Crystal City, Royal Palace.
A middle-aged man wearing a crown and with a fat body threw the wine glass in his hand to the ground.
"Trash, you are all a bunch of trash… Isn't Goron known as the pillar of the empire? Why has it taken so long that he can't even deal with a group of soul beasts?"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger, perhaps Marshal Goron needs some time." A thin and slightly cunning nobleman bowed.
"Hmph… That's all you can say. It's been half a year." The king snorted coldly, then said, "By the way, the fruits sent up recently are not sweet enough. Throw them away and get a new batch. Behead the profiteer in charge of supplying them."
"Yes…" The cunning nobleman said with some difficulty, "Because the area where taxes can be collected has been greatly reduced, the palace is running out of money."
"Do I need to tell you such a simple question?" The king complained dissatisfiedly, "It's because all my subordinates are useless like you that I've lost weight."
He pointed at the nobleman, who was expressing fear and trepidation, with his fingers that were as fat as pig trotters, and said, "Increase the tax by another 10%."
"Your Majesty is wise." The cunning nobleman flattered.
Further away, two people were discussing in low voices, "Should we remind His Majesty that the current tax rate is already 90%…"
The other shook his head: "Don't make trouble."
"Your Majesty, stop worrying about these annoying things, let's play…" Beside the king, a charming woman leaned lazily on him, wrapping her slender, white arms around his neck.
"Alright, alright, my beloved concubine." Saying that, he waved his hand, signaling the ministers who came to report to retreat, pursed his lips, and kissed the woman's face on the side.
"How annoying…" The woman let out a delicate laugh.
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